What's the Goss? Jock's flock makes the grade

CONGRATULATIONS to Yalgoo grazier Jock Nivison and his wife Olivia on being named Australian Sheep Farmer of the Year in Melbourne recently. M.C. for the awards night was former Olympic Swimmer Giaan Rooney who Jock was more intent talking to about improving his lap times than farming stuff. One thing Giann did tell Jock was she hadn’t been serious in a pool for about 12 years.

ONE rather warm day a while ago, Walcha News reporter Vanessa Arundale visited Walcha Vet Supplies to purchase some hay bales for her sheep, and just before Vanessa was about to settle her transaction, she mentioned to WVS assistant Raya Osborne she would like to grab a drink from out of a nearby refrigerator. Raya did point out it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to quench her thirst from that particular fridge as it was full of vaccine, not soft drink.

WHEN “Nulla Doon” grazierress Julianne Galvin found out she had received a mention in last week’s column with regard to arriving one hour early to pick up her grandkids from Niangala School, she suggested it could have been Debbie Wall who dobbed her in as she was one of the very few people told of the mistake. Julianne was immediately informed that wasn’t the case and one of those very few people she had told was in fact the bloke who writes the column.

...it is great to see the kids that put the effort into [swimming] training receive the rewards they justly deserve...

MANLY Sea Eagles supporter, Tooheys Old drinker and Middle Street dweller David Garth Clare was lucky enough to win a couple of meat trays at the Friday night raffles conducted by the bowling club and instead of lugging them home on foot, he left them at the BC to be collected later when he had his car. No drama there, pretty straightforward one would think.

THAT was until Tony Asmus picked up a couple of trays he had also left at the club beforehand which were handed to “Larry” by bar attendant Rebecca “Ruby” Harrison as he was leaving the BC. On investigating, Tony soon realised a mistake has been made after he arrived home when he found not only his two trays of meat, but a couple extra.

WHEN Garth approached “Ruby” about picking up his meat trays, she explained there had been a little hiccup and she had given them away to someone else accidentally. Garth reckons he finished on top anyway because the next time “Larry” caught up with him, he shouted him five schooners of ale which would have cost considerably more than the $5 worth of tickets DGC had purchased in the first place.

LOCAL law enforcer Anthony Smith opened his 2018 Golf Club Championship campaign last Sunday in style when he carded a one-over-par 71 to lead the four round competition by six shots. “Smithy” was also the overall winner on the day and collected a trophy donated by captain Will Brennan.

NO doubt Willy thought there were better ways to thank him for the prize than to down him two-up in the matchplay which took place in conjunction with the main round.

IT just goes to show you even champions can get it wrong sometimes. Last Sunday, Flippers premier swimmer Chloe Mackaway was training for the North West carnival on Tuesday when her back foot slipped as she dived off block number six which caused a memorable “belly flop” seconds later. When “Nigel” resurfaced with a big grin on her face she looked over at me and asked “Did you see that?”. Yes, I had.

STILL on swimming, it is great to see the kids that put the effort into training receive the rewards they justly deserve. Very few are prepared to make the sacrifice of getting out of bed early and then head to the pool in the dark to swim laps. Chyna Smith, Tom Micallef and Murdoc Chawner do it on a regular basis while the Mackaway sisters Chloe and Abbey also churn out plenty of laps. It all paid off for Chyna when she set her first Flippers record on Tuesday, while the remaining quartet are off to the state titles to be held at Homebush next month. Good on ya guys, you deserve it.

A GENTLE reminder to all footy tipsters out there that the first round of the NRL kicks off tonight when the Dragons take on the Broncos. No doubt all the usual suspects will be running their annual tipping competitions but if you are in doubt, get in contact with them to make sure you don’t miss out.

PRIME Meats are once again conducting a tipping competition but this year it will be slightly different to previous years. For the first time, punters are required to select the top eight teams, which need to be registered by round three. At the end of the season, one point will be awarded for each correct team selected. On top of that, a bonus two points for anyone clever enough to pick all eight should make things a bit more interesting in this year’s tipping competition.

A WHILE back, “Golden Haired Wonder Child” Stephen John Sweeney reckoned he was involved in an embarrassing incident which was viewed by a couple of blokes and one of their girlfriends, but also thought they may not have realised what occured. He wouldn’t give away any further information but if you are aware of what happened, have no hesitation in contacting me. Then again, Stevie could be tugging my chain as he has done in the past.